Most automotive vehicles are equipped with one or more knee bolsters situated below the instrument panel in position to confront the knees of the driver and/or passenger of the vehicle in the event of a crash where the occupant is propelled forward by the momentum of the crash. Some knee bolsters are designed to be deformable on impact and may act to “pocket” the knee. While this is desirable in may respects, such known deformable knee bolster designs restrict lateral sliding movement of the knees once pocketed.